There are several ways of promoting women’s economic participation while also counteracting climate change. One approach in the field of climate mitigation is the promotion of renewable energies that can help avoid greenhouse gas emissions. It is observed that less attention is paid to the potential that lies in the combination of climate mitigation/ adaptation and the economic empowerment of rural women; yet mitigation or adaptation activities offer opportunities to advance the economic empowerment of women. In particular, this applies to work that is already being undertaken by women or activities in which women could assume a leading role. The study recommends that measures to promote the economic participation of women can be integrated into climate change initiatives. In order for rural women to play an economic role, an institutional, legal and political framework is required that enables and/or makes it easier for rural women to hold their own in the market. Concrete project measures at the local level should therefore be combined with advisory services at the political level, with a view to initiating structural reform.